Susie Rayos Marmon

She was thirteen when she reached Carlisle, on August 26, 1896, and she did not leave for ten years. After graduating in 1903 she finished teacher training at Bloomsburg Normal School in 1906, and Carlisle's superintendent asked that she be appointed rather than a white teacher. She taught at the Isleta day school, then at Laguna, visiting the homes of students who might quit and teaching in Keres alongside English. Her great-niece Leslie Marmon Silko wrote her into Storyteller as Aunt Susie. She died in 1988, eleven days short of 111.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Susie Rayos Marmon Ga-wa goo maa (Early Riser) 1877-1988 Laguna Pueblo Educated at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania under the U.S. policy of acculturating Indian children through schooling and removal from their homelands, Susie was instrumental in bringing education back to Laguna. A lifelong teacher, oral historian, and storyteller, Susie was honored with a school in her name in Albuquerque in 1989 and received many national and state citations for her commitment to educating students. New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Acoma Sky City — 15 mi
  Haak'u, the village on a sandstone mesa west of Albuquerque, seen only on the pueblo's own tours, with a mission whose roof beams were carried on foot from Mount Taylor.

More markers nearby

• San José de la Laguna Mission — steps away
• San José de la Laguna Mission — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away